Pandit Shivkumar Sharma

Pandit
Shivkumar Sharma is a very famous classical musician who has acquired
international fame by playing the classical instrument, Santoor. The
Santoor is a trapezoid-shaped hammered dulcimer often made of walnut
wood and has 72 strings, which are struck with two delicate carved
wooden mallets. The santoor is essentially a folk instrument that
originated in the Kashmir Valley, which was given the status of a
classical instrument due to the persistent efforts of Pandit Shivkumar
Sharma. Reaching at this level in life was not easy for him and it is
because of the determination of Shivkumar Sharma that the Santoor is a
popular classical instrument. Know his life history in this short
biography of Pt. Shiv Kumar Sharma.

Shivkumar Sharma was born on 13th January, 1938 in Jammu. He was
introduced to the Santoor by his father and teacher, Pandit Uma Dutt
Sharma. He was renowned player of the instrument and also a vocalist. He
was a disciple of Pandit Bade Ramdasji of Banaras. Shivkumar Sharma
learnt the tabla and also vocal singing before dedicating himself to
learn the Santoor extensively. The Santoor was known as the Shata-Tantri
Veena in earlier days. It was used to accompany a particular type of
singing known as Sufiana Mausiqi. Pandit Uma Dutt Sharma gave the
responsibility of taking the Santoor on the world stage to his son
Shivkumar after extensive research on its possibilities.

Today, Shivkumar Sharma and the Santoor are synonymous. Shivkumar
Sharma has truly been successful in giving the Santoor the position of a
popular classical instrument. Shivkumar Sharma modified the folk
instrument in order to make it more suitable for classical music. He
increased its range to full three octaves and also created a technique
for smoother gliding between music notes in order to imitate human voice
quality. Shivkumar Sharma also created a new way of playing it so that
the notes and sound continuity could be maintained for a long time.

Shivkumar Sharma has collaborated with many musicians like Zakir
Hussain and Hariprasad Chaurasiya. He also composed music for Hindi
films like "Darr", "Silsila", "Lamhe",
etc. Some of his famous albums are Call of the Valley, Sampradaya,
Elements: Water, Music of the Mountains, Megh Malhar, etc. His son Rahul
is also a famous Santoor player. Shivkumar Sharma is the recipient of
many prestigious awards like Padmashree, Padma Vibhushan, Sangeet Natak
Academy Award, Honorary Doctorate from the University of Jammu, Ustad
Hafiz Ali Khan Award, Maharashtra Gaurav Puraskar, etc. He also has an
honorary citizenship of the city of Baltimore, USA. This flawless
musician truly deserves these honors and more. His Santoor recitals
shall keep us mesmerized for many more years to come.